Walker vowed
that the GOP's next presidential nominee must be someone "from outside
Washington," touting his success at the state level in cutting spending.
He also chimed in on Obamacare, prodding the party to move forward on a new
idea. He said that the party "can't go back in time," and need to
replace Obamacare with something "patient-centered."

Christie, on his part, recalled the 2012 trip he and his family took to
Israel. He said, “I took a helicopter ride from the occupied territories
across and just felt personally how extraordinary that was to understand, the
military risk that Israel faces every day.” The story was intended to forge
common cause with Jewish casino owner Sheldon Adelson (who has been financing
illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories flouting international
laws) and the several hundred donors to the Republican Jewish Coalition to
which Christie was speaking.

But as
soon as Christie uttered the term “occupied territories”, it set off murmurs in
the crowd. It is a forbidden word in Zionism, and amongst zealous Zionists who
consider the term as validating Palestinian
challenges over Israel’s illegal occupation and presence there. Other Christian
Zionist supporters of Israel also oppose the use of the term in spite of the
fact that the international community, including Israel’s greatest benefactor –
the USA, officially maintains that the West Bank of the Jordan River with
Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israel War, comprises
the Occupied Territories. The Zionist state has been maintaining a military presence ever since 1967.

Christie’s
comments drew criticism amongst the die-hard supporters of the illegal Jewish
settlement movement. The 80-year-old GOP mega donor Adelson could not have
been amused. He owns the Venetian resort
that hosted the four-day conference – already being dubbed "the Sheldon
primary" – complete with Scotch tastings, private roundtable panels, golf,
poker and other activities. In the 2012 election cycle, Adelson poured in more than $90 million to super PACs and candidates
including Newt Gingrich to unseat President Obama and other Democrats. With his
dirty casino money, he remains a formidable force in American politics, a fact which
was not lost last weekend.

According to published
reports, soon after the speech, Morton Klein, president of the hawkish Zionist
Organization of America, confronted Christie about his use of the term, lecturing
the New Jersey governor that “at minimum you should call it disputed
territories.” According to Politico, Christie
was non-committal at the beginning. The
governor “either doesn’t understand the issue at all, or he’s hostile to
Israel,” said Klein.

Later, however, Christie
met with Adelson privately in the casino mogul’s office in the Venetian hotel
and casino, which hosted the RJC meeting. We are told that there Christie
“clarified in the strongest terms possible that his remarks today were not meant
to be a statement of policy,” and conveyed that he “is an unwavering friend and
committed supporter of Israel, and was sorry for any confusion that came across
as a result of the misstatement.” Adelson accepted Christie’s explanation.

Besides the comment,
Christie largely impressed the crowd Saturday night. He also criticized the
Obama administration’s approach to foreign policy, which the RJC crowd
distrusts deeply. “We cannot have a world where our friends are unsure of
whether we’ll be with them, and our enemies are unsure of whether we’ll be
against them,” Christie said to loud applause. He also recounted meeting the
hawkish Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an RJC favorite, and being
“extraordinarily taken by his strength and resolve.”

The three governors are considered likely contenders for the GOP
presidential nomination in 2016. Party loyalists hope their attendance this
weekend will help convince Adelson to support an establishment candidate in the
next presidential, rather than a dark horse candidate like Newt Gingrich who he
propped up with millions in 2012. Christie got loud applause when he said,
"It’s time for us to stop as a party killing each other."

The mini-controversy and
quick apology from Governor Christie once again highlight the influence of the
powerful ‘Israel Lobby’ in dictating what’s kosher for American politicians and
what’s not when it comes to the Middle East politics.

As the adage goes: hell can
freeze, but don’t dare to challenge the Israeli interest in the USA! To succeed
as a politician in this country one must appear and sound more Zionist than an
Israeli Jew.

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I have a long history of a peaceful activist in my effort towards improving human rights and creating a just and equitable world. I have written extensively in the arena of humanity, global politics, social conscience and human rights since 1980, many of which have appeared in newspapers, magazines, journals and the Internet. I have tirelessly championed the cause of the disadvantaged, the poor and the forgotten here in Americas and abroad. Commenting on my articles, others have said, "His meticulously researched essays and articles combined with real human dimensions on the plight of the displaced peoples of Rohingya in Myanmar, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosovo and Palestine, and American Muslims in the post-9/11 era have made him a singular important intellectual offering a sane voice with counterpoints to the shrill threats of the oppressors and the powerful. He offers a fresh and insightful perspective on a whole generation of a misunderstood and displaced people with little or no voice of their own." I have authored 13 books, 10 of which are now available through the Amazon.com.